Why did Republicans jump to oppose a bill that would deliver exactly what they claimed to want? Because former President Donald Trump told them to.
Every day, we see the real-life consequences of that broken system on families and communities. The solutions aren’t easy, but they also are as clear as day.
We need to tackle the huge backlog for lawful immigration, so it doesn’t take years for a person’s paperwork to be processed. And we need to invest in smart border security technology that better detects and stops drugs like fentanyl before they get into our communities.
GOP doesn’t want to fix border:
Fixing the border crisis is bad for Trump and good for Biden. That’s the problem.
GOP failed to deliver on border security
Time and again, I have heard my Republican colleagues claim that they want to “secure the border.” Last week was their opportunity to prove that they meant it. Once again, they failed to deliver.
The Senate voted on a historic bipartisan national security, border security and immigration reform bill that was the result of many months of negotiations.
I voted to support this bill because I, like most New Mexicans, am done with our badly broken system.
Nearly all of my Republican colleagues voted “No” to even starting debate on the bill.
Republicans chose politics instead of leadership
Before even seeing what was in the bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., declared that it would be “dead on arrival” in the House. Almost all Republican senators followed suit and chose political showmanship over leadership.
Why did Republicans jump to oppose a bill that would deliver exactly what they claimed to want? Because former President Donald Trump told them to. Improving border security apparently wasn’t ever a real factor in their decision-making.